John 'Lofty' WisemanCritiques

A fascinating study on why some people do well in life and others don't. The author asserts that raw talent is not enough to guarantee success; external factors like the culture you are born into and your date of birth have a huge effect on outcomes. The book gives lots of fun anecdotes about people who were wildly successful (or not) in diverse fields like sports, computers, math, law, piloting airplanes, etc.; along with enough supporting data to feel like there is science behind it. That opportunities and environment shape outcomes is not surprising, but the types of external factors that the author suggests affect success IS unexpected. As a result I found the book very interesting.

I've heard people criticize this book for being too reliant on anecdotes, and as I was listening to it, that struck me as a fair thing to say. Gladwell makes his point by sharing very interesting, compelling examples of people who achieved great things because they were lucky in some way. Thusly he dispels the myth of the self-made man who makes his fortune with nothing but his great brain and courage.

So this book might not represent the height of Science or anything, but it was fun to listen to. I got this on audiobook because Gladwell reads it himself and his voice is great. I especially liked the last part where he talked about his own family's path to success.

What is one supposed to do with this book? It was the literary equivalent of cotton candy - full to the brim with sweetness but with a very faint aftertaste, and you begin to wonder if it was even worth it. But then again, it was interesting in the moment, right?
Outliers is also spectacularly optimistic ('successful' people become that way because of luck and destiny, and not only because they are geniuses! The traditional notion of modern genius is antiquated. It probably needs to be quashed altogether) or pessimistic (if it's going to take so much luck and embracing your cultural heritage and being born in January for success, then I might as well not bother), depending on how you look at it. Plus, the fact that the author's claims that not having summer vacation is good for learning outcomes for poor students just annoyed me because apparently - good teachers and learning paradigms are not good enough? And some 'sacrifice' is expected?
Here, you always get the feeling the author is working backwards - starting from wanting to quash the notion of outliers, and cherrypicking his way into feel-good neoliberal 'meritocratic' discussions, without offering or even hinting at a structural change. I also didn't feel the topic was deep enough to warrant a book written on it. Magazine article in the Economist? Sure. But a 300-page book? Not the best idea.

This book was definitely thought provoking. Especially as someone who grew up playing hockey, his example using the sport made a lot of sense.

Friends have shown me things that contradict this but really this book should not be taken as a definitive and more of something that can help make you understand, accept or motivate successes in your life. All depends how you take it!

“The world could be so much richer than the world we have settled for.”

This is a must read to better understand our world and social processes.

Brilliant and thought provoking. I learned about cultural differences resulting in plane crashes, why the Eastern world is good at math, and when you are born in the early part of the year you get certain privileges. Everyone should read this book; and then send their kids to school as outlined in the chapter "Marita's Bargain".

Outstanding
Thought provoking
high school students should read it too.

The best guide in the business is now complete - with the most useful Urban survival tips to go alongside an fully updated edition of the original, bestselling survival handbook. Written by ex-SAS survival expert John 'Lofty' Wiseman, this book provides the most reliable, authoritative and respected survival information on the market.

Het SAS Survival Handboek is een everseller. Het handboek geeft de reiziger de meest betrouwbare en uitgebreide survivalinformatie die denkbaar is. De beproefde technieken zijn in begrijpelijke tekst en beeld vertaald en daarmee is dit het meest praktische survivalhandboek dat er bestaat. Nu geheel geactuliseerd en uitgebreid en voorzien van nieuwe illustraties. Een must voor iedere reiziger die niet voor onvoorziene situaties wil komen te staan. John Wiseman is een Brits militair die jarenlang het Britse elitecorps S.A.S. heeft getraind. Alle technieken in zijn S.A.S. Handboek zijn dan ook ontelbare malen in de harde praktijk getest. (flap)

Se va al bolso del apocalipsis zombie.

"The SAS Survival Handbook" is the Special Air Service's complete course in being prepared for any type of emergency. John 'Lofty' Wiseman presents real strategies for surviving in any type of situation, from accidents and escape procedures, including chemical and nuclear to successfully adapting to various climates (polar, tropical, desert), to identifying edible plants and creating fire. The book is extremely practical and is illustrated throughout with easy-to-understand line art and diagrams.

本書收錄多年來無數心理學家所進行的有趣實驗。作者將其分門別類，前後連貫，使本書能夠具有完整的結構，但主體仍然是各個實驗，作者並未強力的將各實驗結果統整為統一的論述。唯翻譯有一些問題，尤其是在幽默心理學一章，許多笑話沒有附上原文，無法令人感受其樂趣。

In book memes, there is invariably a question about which book you would want to take along with you on a deserted island. Most people answer something like the Bible or the complete works of Shakespeare. I always answer this book. It covers everything from urban survivalism (don't get too attached to pets; you may have to eat them) to how to survive a plane crash into the ocean. Of course, you have to read the book before you need it, but it would be good to add to any backpack before a trip. The added couple of pounds could come in very handy.

Fun making bear-traps in the garden. The first aid section is really good as well.

Pretty freakin good, I can take a big game animal down if I need to now, hopefully it won't come to that as I am vegetarian :)
But in all seriousness you need to practice these skills if you want to be able to really survive if put in a bad situation.
Highly recommended for anyone interested in survivalism.

This is the full size, original edition of the SAS Survival Guide, since republished in other forms including the handy pocket sized version and (better still) a set of waterproof cards. It's a complete survival reference, attractively laid out and clearly written, but it suffers from its comprehensiveness.

As a survival manual, it could be better organized. You can't flip it open to page 1 and find a list of priorities. The essentials are buried, and information is presented in an illogical order: for example, food (lowest priority) before shelter (among the highest). Signalling for help, which should be among your highest priorities, gets just a few pages at the back of the book, but you get page after page of diagrams showing how to set various lethal animal traps, which in a real emergency you'll never get around to doing. In a real emergency, you want to get rescued within 24 hrs. (This is why you have a cell phone/sat phone/personal locator beacon, right?)

From the standpoint of practical outdoor survival, then, this book isn't particularly helpful. If a member of your party gets hurt, if you lose a canoe and some kit, if you're cold and wet and lost and need to improvise so you can stay warm and get help, this book isn't going to guide you.

And some of the information is a bit suspect. For example, Wiseman suggests using a rock to drive your knife through a log to split it, which is asking for a broken knife; use a stout stick instead, and keep your blade intact. Errors like this are inevitable in a book this exhaustive, and this is a problem: you need to use other sources.

But ... this book is full of information on primitive skills, improvised shelters, fire-lighting methods, and so on. It's worth reading, and dipping into again, for anyone interested in the topic.

This small but complete survival guide can fit in the pocket of your pack (in a baggie, because it's not waterproof), and at the very least it'll provide hours of happy camp reading.

This is mostly a reference book; as a survival manual, it could be better organized. You can't flip it open to page 1 and find a list of priorities. The essentials are buried, and information is presented in an illogical order: for example, food (lowest priority) before shelter (among the highest). Signalling for help, which should be among your highest priorities, gets just a few pages at the back of the book, but you get page after page of diagrams showing how to set various lethal animal traps, which in a real emergency you'll never get around to doing. In a real emergency, you want to get rescued within 24 hrs. (This is why you have a cell phone/sat phone/personal locator beacon, right?)

From the standpoint of practical outdoor survival, then, this book isn't particularly helpful. If a member of your party gets hurt, if you lose a canoe and some kit, if you're cold and wet and lost and need to improvise so you can stay warm and get help, this book isn't going to guide you.

And some of the information is a bit suspect. For example, Wiseman suggests using a rock to drive your knife through a log to split it, which is asking for a broken knife; use a stout stick instead, and keep your blade intact. Errors like this are inevitable in a book this exhaustive, and this is a problem: you need to use other sources.

But ... this book is full of information on primitive skills, improvised shelters, fire-lighting methods, and so on. It's worth reading, and dipping into again, for anyone interested in the topic.

Quite useful as a "textbook" to supplement the survival courses which I have done over the years.